Hobbs' Studio
__FORCETOC__ Art Studio 'owned by Wilfred ‘Wilfy’ Hobbs located in London, England. This is where Hobbs restores “La Maledicció” and fakes Medovsky's ''provenance (See in Trivia). He lives in the apartment on the upper floor of the studio. '''Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse George learns Hobbs’ Studio's address thanks to the business card found at Medovsky’s Residence. Once there, he and Nico try to ring the main entrance's doorbell but no one answers. Seems that George has to find a way to attract Hobbs’ attention. By looking for anything of help, he finds some wires that he will later use to fix Hobb’s old van’s horn. After he beeps the horn, Hobbs finally leans out of the window stating that he is very busy at the moment. This is when George pretends to be from a Model Agency to which the artists asks them to come in immediately. Still inside the car, George borrows Hobbs’ bottle of Whiskey. Inside the Art Studio, Hobbs asks Nico to pose as his inspiration muse and George to take his clothes off behind the screen to which he is very reluctant. After taking a look at the place and changing the volume of the stereo, he notices a briefcase near Hobbs that must the stolen painting, “La Maledicció”. He needs to do what Hobbs is asking him if he wants to see what it’s inside the portfolio, therefore George finally decides to go behind the screen. There he sees a shocking image, something so terrifying that he will have nightmares for years. George sees her old friend, Ms. Lady Piermont, totally naked. She greets him vigorously and asks George to pass her a robe because the studio is getting very cold. Ms. Piermont is not going to pose in these conditions making Hobbs a little stress to which he takes a sip of his drink. She demands George to increase the temperature of the thermostat. When the heat is raised the lights of the building start to blink, and Hobbs gets a little more stressed than before. He communicates Piermont that the building’s fuse box can’t handle the heat, but she is not giving up. That is why Hobbs must give in to her needs, and only take another sip more of his drink until everything is over. George needs Hobbs to take only one more sip of his drink to have him completely drunk. He takes advantage of Piermont’s helping hand to ask her to use the elevator that is near the stairs to completely burn the building’s fuse box. By doing this, Hobbs drinks his last glass and stops what he is doing to check on the fuse box. He is not able to move anymore and stays stumbling over a small bench. Once Hobbs is out of the way, George is able to peek inside his portfolio to find an unusual sketch that reminds him of something he has recently seen. The drawing features a part from the stolen painting, “La Maledicció”. After asking Hobbs about the sketch, he informs George that he drew the image while restoring the painting that Medovsky legally owns. He mentions that a provenance was sent to Henri to prove the proprietorship, so Hector Laine must know about it. There is nothing else George and Nico need to know now, so they both exit the studio. George heads over to Navet’s reconstruction at the Gallery and Nico meets his boss for lunch. Later in the story, George and Nico come back to the studio after finding out through Bijou that Hobbs forged Medovsky’s provenance. By the time they enter Hobbs apartment, they find him dead lying on the floor. It seems that someone else has broken into the building before them surely looking for “La Maledicció”. But what the individual doesn’t know is that he or she has a forgery. Hobbs hid the painting and left a fake canvas painted by him at sight. The original is “Behind Bijou’s behind”. After recovering the painting, Nico notices smoke coming underneath the door which states that the one who stole the reproduction has set the place on fire to cover all the evidences of the murder. Luckily, George and Nico find a way to exit the place through the roof only to see no one other than Richard Langham, the alleged Interpol Inspector, walking peacefully out of the property. Both try to scream for help, but not only he hears them but casually wives them back and walks away. Nico, disconcerted, asks George why Langham isn’t helping them. George explains her that clearly he is the one who broke into the building before them to kill Hobbs and steal the painting. Fortunately, he doesn’t have the original painting and is not succeeding in killing them either. 'Trivia' *''Provenance'': a record of ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality. *Hobbs’ business card reads: “Wilfred Hobbs, Fine Art restoration”. *According to a letter found in his mailbox, Hobbs has a very bad temper and some alleged infractions done to models that visited his studio. *After leaving the studio, George keeps the whiskey bottle he finds inside Hobbs’ van. Sláinte! * The original paintings featured in Hobbs’ Apartment can be seen in our Flickr account along with their respective authors. 'Gallery' hobbs studio 2.png|Outside view from Hobbs' Art Studio. Hobbs-studio.png|Hobbs' Studio. Hobbs 6.png|Hobbs' apartment above the studio. Category:Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse Category:London, England Category:Hobbs' Studio Category:Location Category:Places of interest